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downthetubes is undergoing some main site refurbishment...

Saturday, 7th October 2017

The downthetubes news blog was assimilated into our main site back in 2013, but we're glad you're here, because that's currently undergoing some under the bonnet refurb! So we've brought this blog back from the dead to tide us over.

We expect to be back up and running next week, just before the 2017 Lakes International Comic Art Festival - see you there?

Hop over to www.downthetubes.net for other British comics news, comic creating guides, interviews and much more!

Sunday, 5 February 2012

Bastien Vivès' Polina set for UK publication next year

Bastien Vivès' Polina (due to be published by Jonathan Cape in the UK in June 2013) was awarded l'Association des critiques de Bandes Dessinées at this year's Angoulême International Comics Festival.

Polina recounts the joys and torments of a young Russian ballerina in the world of classical and contemporary ballet.

Vivès' A Taste of Chlorine was previously published to much critical acclaim in the UK. The Observer described it as "extraordinarily beautiful" and the Independent wrote "Every once in a while, a graphic novel comes along that warrants the kind of attention more typically bestowed upon the likes of the Booker shortlist. Bastien Vivès's A Taste of Chlorine is one such book."

In other good news for Cape, Guy Delisle's Jerusalem (to be published in August 2012) was also awarded 'Best Album' award.

The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest in Europe. 11 prizes known as the "Fauves d'Angoulême" were awarded in Angoulême on Sunday 29th January 2012, the last day of the 39th edition of the festival. They reward comic books published in French between December 2010 and November 2011; 58 books were shortlisted this year.

The site downthetubes.net, which began publishing in 1999, is edited by John Freeman whose credits include editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, Star Wars Magazine, and Marvel UK titles such as Overkill, Death's Head II, Warheads and others. He's currently editor of the upcoming Strip Magazine for Print Media Productions.

About the Writers:

• Matthew Badham has written features for Judge Dredd: The Megazine, the Forbidden Planet International blog and more

• Jeremy Briggs contributes news, reviews, interviews and historical articles on British comics. He is a guest writer on Steve Holland's UK comics history blog, Bear Alley, and has written for Comics International, TV Zone, Spaceship Away and Omnivistascope.

• David Hailwood has written comic strips for various publications, including TOXIC, Accent UK, Bulletproof and Futurequake. He also writes comedy material for TV, and regularly contributes to the Temple APA (a showcase for UK comic writers and artists).

• Andy Luke is a writer who draws: he's s created the eponymous Andy Luke's Comic Book, Gran, Absence: a comic about epilepsy, Hold the Phones, It's Alex Jones, and graphic novel, The Watch Thief. He's written about comics too, mainly for Bugpowder.com, and has been involved with the Caption comics festival in Oxford. He currently lives in Belfast with a large box of pasta and a 7ft tall cigarette, and can be found online at http://andy-luke.com and http://awriterwhodraws.com

• Ian Wheeler is a freelance writer who also edited the highly-acclaimed British comics fanzine Eagle Flies Again.